Black War
by abcRainbowPie
Summary: A mysterious darkness accompanied by strange black creatures takes over the worlds and it's up to Axel, Demyx, and Zexion - three completely different boys from different worlds - to put an end to it all no matter the risks.


The palace library was dark, only lit by a few candles. The windows were open and it was only a few hours after every one had waken, but there was no light outside. The sky was pitch-black throughout morning and night, all twenty-four hours of the day. Though, with no sun, how was it that they kept time? They had no electricity just like they had no sun. Who were they to say there even was a day, a month, a week, an hour, a minute? There was just no way to keep time.

The kingdom's only source of light was fire. The roads were lit by torches at all times. Each room in every house was lit by candlelight. Though the land was covered in darkness, the people have come used to it. Their eyes were naturally made to see in the dark, though some didn't have as good of vision as others. Even though they could all see in the dark, they all preferred the fire as a light source.

The fire wasn't only used as a light source though. Thanks to the eternal darkness, the air was deathly cold. A bomb fire was always lit in the town square and there were always people gathered around it. One of the kingdom's main problems with using the fire as a heat source was their weather. It was often windy, a casual wind storm now and then. They also got their share of rain, though it wasn't as frequent as the wind. During a wind storm the people boarded up their homes, lighting all their candles and fireplaces. When rain came there were often many deaths from colds.

Though heat and light were important, it wasn't the main reason for the fire. The world was full of darkness and there were small black creatures that roamed throughout. Since there was no light such as a sun, the creatures were always there, lurking in the nearest darkness or shadow. They feared fire though. Since the kingdom was so well lit by fire for most of the time, the creatures – which the people had come to name Shadows – hardly ever attacked until the fire was blown out.

Shadows did have a way to attack within the lit kingdom. If someone were to come close to the kingdom borders, a Shadow can easily jump into the person's shadow and follow them back through the kingdom. They'd wait until the least suspecting moment, such as when the person would go somewhere with little fire, and come out of the shadows and attack. It was a rare thing for a Shadow to attack like that. Most people knew not to go where one can jump into your shadow.

But Shadows weren't the case in what happened in the palace library. Zexion had been reading by candlelight when the candles suddenly blew out. The boy had gotten out of his chair, but not to relight the candles. The windows weren't opened and he knew that. He had gotten up to find the source of the problem, he knew it wasn't right. He could see perfectly in the darkness so it didn't bother him at all. What did bother him was that he felt uneasy.

He knew he shouldn't have been put off so easily, but there was something odd going on, something that never happened before. Everything felt still – well of course it did, nothing in there can move on its own – but this stillness felt more stiff than still. Then something moved behind him. He turned, expecting to see a Shadow, but what he did see was worse and it started to frighten him. The space behind him was going dark, darker than it already was. It wasn't the darkness he'd grown up in, it was absolute pure darkness and he couldn't see a thing in it. That was what frightened him most.

He could still see the other parts of the library, but what was left was soon covered by the darkness too. Zexion went to use his powers, but for what? There was nothing to hit, nothing to attack. All there was darkness and that darkness soon became cold and heavy.

As much as he hated to admit it to himself, Zexion was becoming afraid. He closed his eyes, though it didn't change anything. He started having trouble breathing, but he didn't pay much mind to that. He kept mind to his thoughts, which were currently telling him he was not afraid. He continued to tell himself these things, even things such as 'it'll be okay.' The thoughts were all he focused on, not realizing when he had gone to his knees or lost consciousness.

* * *

When he opened his eyes he found himself quickly closing them again and hiding his eyes. From what he could tell, he was lying down on something that felt like a mattress, but he couldn't make sure since he couldn't open his eyes. The room, wherever he was, was far too bright than what he was used to. His eyes still slightly hurt from the brightness and he turned to face a pillow. Yes, most likely a bed.

A chuckle sounded through the air and a voice said, "My apologies." After that the light had dimmed some and Zexion tried again to open his eyes. The lighting was better this time and he didn't have to pull away again, only having to blink somewhat.

He was, as he had thought, on a bed. He sat up and looked around. The room was well lit, better than any amount of candles could pull off. He was confused at first, not knowing where the light came from since it was obviously not done by fire. He let the thought go though and took in what was in the room. There were two other beds; each one had another boy lying on it, each one still asleep, or unconscious. Then Zexion saw a man dressed in black and red robes. Zexion figured he was the one who had spoken.

Looking down at himself, Zexion found him still in the clothes he was in before the strange darkness appeared. Most of his clothes were black. Black pants that were tight but comfortable, a black shirt that hugged him somewhat tightly. His shoes had been taken off and he only had his grey socks on his feet. Both his armor rings were still on his fingers, one on his left index and the other on his right middle finger.

The one on his left hand was smooth. The one on his right hand had details that resembled a dragon somehow, and when he pulled his fingers into a fist there was a sharp point at his knuckle. Each ring had black gems and came to a point an inch after his finger tips.

Pulling the rings off, he flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles. He noticed his nails were a glossy black color, but it wasn't due to nail polish, it was from his powers. His skin was a pale color. Normally he wouldn't be considered pale, since everyone in his world was pale, but compared to the others in the room he was very pale.

Standing up to stand next to the bed he turned to the man in robes. "Where am I? And who are you?"

"You are in a new world, no longer home, as you can surely tell," the man replied. "As for my name, you may address me as DiZ."

"No shit, I know I'm not in my home world," Zexion said, raising his voice slightly. "I want to know exactly where I am and why."

"Now that's no way for a prince to speak," DiZ said, causing Zexion to step back, taken aback. He laughed to himself and said, "No need to be surprised, I know much about you, Prince Zexion of Ebony."

"How do you know that?" Zexion asked. "And what do you want with me?"

"Quiet now, you might wake the others," DiZ said as he raised his hands slightly as to quiet the boy.

"Too late," a voice said from behind Zexion, causing the boy to turn and look. The redhead who had been lying on one of the beds was now sitting up. The other boy was moving and soon sat up as well. "Hey," the redhead continued speaking as he looked around the room. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Yeah," Zexion agreed, turning back to DiZ. He picked up his armor rings from the bed and put them back on. "Do tell."

DiZ watched as the boy in front of him put on his rings and pulled his hands into fists. Before he could come closer, DiZ lifted his hand and put it on the switch that adjusted the lights, putting it on the highest setting. The light made Zexion stop and drop to his knees, covering his eyes. "Come accustomed to the light," he heard DiZ say. "You'll have to in order to survive."

With his eyes covered, Zexion's other senses heightened and he could easily hear the door open and close. DiZ had left. He then heard rushed footsteps coming towards him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and had to hold himself back from shaking the hand off. "Are you okay?" he heard the person ask.

Zexion shook his head. "Turn it off," he said, talking about the lights.

The hand left his shoulder and the person's footsteps walked away. Quickly, the light turned down and he slowly lowered his hands. He blinked to clear his vision and looked up to see one of the other boys kneeling in front of him as to check if he was okay. "Better?" he asked. Zexion nodded and the boy smiled. "Good. My name's Demyx by the way," he said and offered his hand to shake.

"Zexion," he said and took the blonde's hand to shake. Demyx then pulled Zexion to his feet before letting go of his hand. They both turned to face the third in the room.

"What?" the redhead asked. Then realizing what they wanted he said, "Oh, I'm Axel."

"So what do we do –" Demyx started but was interrupted by a knock on the door. They all turned to see the door opened slightly and a blonde girl standing there, her small fist resting against where she had knocked.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting," she said softly, "but breakfast is ready."

The boys looked back at each other then followed the girl out of the room. They walked down a hall, coming to in open space that looked like a living room. The girl led them through there to an opened door that led into a dining room where a table was set with four different plates, two on each side. DiZ sat at one end of the table, a few papers in his hands. He looked up as the four entered. The girl went to a seat beside the man and gestured for the boys to take their own seat. Zexion sat in the seat beside the girl as Demyx and Axel sat across from the two.

"Nice of you to join us," DiZ said and set down the papers. "Please, eat."

"We still have questions," Axel said, but picked up his fork anyway.

"Feel free to ask," the man responded.

"Okay," Axel said. "Well, one thing, why is it still dark in here? Let in some sun."

"Zexion is not used to bright lights," DiZ said, making Axel's attention turn to the boy he spoke of.

Raising an eyebrow, the redhead said, "Why? What's wrong with him?"

Zexion tried to ignore the comment, but couldn't help his grip tighten on his fork. "There is nothing wrong with him," he heard DiZ say. "His home world has no daylight."

"Well I guess that explains your pale skin," Axel scoffed. At his words Zexion stood suddenly and went to throw the fork in his hand, but was unable to move once his hand was in the air.

"Enough nonsense!" DiZ said rather loud as he stood from his seat, causing the girl and Demyx to flinch. His eyes focused on both Axel and Zexion as he spoke. "You two will have to cooperate or else there will be consequences!" As he said 'consequences' he turned to look at Zexion, the boy's wrist suddenly twisting and bending back, the snapping bones audible. He cried out in pain, dropping the fork to the table, and moving – now that he was able to – to cradle his wrist. The three others seated at the table watched in shock.

"Understood?" the man asked, more to Zexion than to Axel. Zexion nodded in answer, keeping his head down. "Namine," DiZ said and looked to the girl. "Please go take care of his wrist." Namine nodded and stood from her seat, walking out of the room with Zexion.

"Now you two," DiZ spoke, addressing Demyx and Axel. "Finish your meals. Once you're done feel free to wander the house. Namine will get you for when it's time for training."

"Training?" Axel asked but was left unanswered as DiZ left the room.


End file.
